Crimdon Dene

The hotel didn't have any running water this morning and so I had to miss my shower. It didn't really matter since the morning was so muggy that I was covered in sweat after 10 minutes walking anyway. I'd set off from the Crimdon Dene carpark and headed north along the England Coast Path (ECP). I guess I should really call it the King Charles Coast Path now, but being a republican, I'll stick with the ECP. I wonder whose going to change all the references on the existing fingerposts and signs? I made my way through the static caravan holiday park just north of the carpark. The scale of the park surprised me; I'd guess the number of static caravans must be in the hundreds. I lost count of the ones that had been named Sea View by their owners. The site is crammed in between the main north east coast railway line, and a cliff edge do[ to the rocky beach below. It is quite a walk from the site to actually get down to the beach. Most of the caravans looked empty. Given it is mid-July I was expecting the site to be buzzing with people. It looked a tidy, well maintained site though. 

 Blackhall Colliery

The OS map is dotted with blue birds all along this stretch of the coast; an indication of nature reserves. The villages are all west of the railway line and so the reserves have been left alone and seem to be doing quite well. There's a lot of birdlife, insects and flowers to maintain interest along the walk. Butterflies accompanied me along the trail for most of the day, fluttering just a few yards ahead of me. It is hard to believe what this area would have looked like 50 years ago. Well, it isn't really; just Google the photos or watch Get Carter. As I approached the town of Blackhall Colliery I stopped to chat to a couple of female dog walkers. This distracted me somewhat and I missed a footpath sign and ended up circumnavigating a field by mistake. I also got to see an allotment area for Blackhall Colliery although this was no substitute for visiting my Get Carter location that I'd managed to bypass with my wayward route. No problems though...I'd just visit the location on my return journey later in the day. 

Signage And Shite

Surprisingly, I went off track a few times today. You'd think that on a coastal walk that this wouldn't be a problem, but some signs appeared to be missing and there were a few path choices at times. The issue was compounded in that some of the paths had been so overgrown that I sometimes doubted that they were in fact the ECP. I dropped down to beach level at Dene Mouth after wading through brambles and nettles on the official path (it had an ECP sign at the end of the path). The black beaches have gone but what remains wouldn't encourage families to settle down with a windbreak and some bucket and spades. An oddity of the beach is that there is about a 4 or 5 foot step level change before reaching the sea. If you want to go for a paddle then you need to abseil down this obstacle or find a suitable point to descend. I walked along this beach a few years back and a 4x4 had been driven on to it and had sunk down to the tops of its tyres. The owner had been hurridely digging it out. Rather than walk along the road up Limekiln Gill to pick up the ECP again, I decided to get back to the top of the cliffs by a more direct assault. This wasn't quite as adventurous as you might first think since on another occasion I'd done a walk southwards along the coast and stopped at the top of the cliff. From this position I could clearly see a track down to the beach that other people had used. It was with this inside knowledge that I confidently set off up the steep track to the top of the cliff. Initially it was fine. I guess things started to turn sour was when I came across some fresh human faeces with a meringue of toilet paper on the top. I stepped around it and continued up. The brambles got thicker, the nettles much more painful and then the track disappeared altogether. The grassy area where I'd sat down for lunch a few years ago was now completely overgrown. It would be too difficult to turn around and head back and so I pressed on, eventually reaching the clifftop path. I checked my clothes for tears and was surprised that it all was intact. 

Rubbish And Dog Shite

At Black Hills Gill I went on another walkabout which coincidentally also took me on a tour of some allotments near Horden Station. Half an hour later, I found my way to the other side of the gill and continued along the coastal path. There was a well made stone shelter near to the Horden Grassland Nature Reserve. It was surrounded by plastic bottles and there was even half a can of Dr Pepper on the stone seat. Unfortunately, I'd seen other spots along the route where people had just seemed to dump their rubbish. It seemed odd since I'd hardly seen anybody on the walk so far. I'd only see a few people walking or fishing along the beach. I'd noticed that the dog shite (some of it recent) per kilometre rate was far higher than any other route that I'd walked along recently. This was quite odd too since I'd not met anybody walking their dogs. 

Horden Colliery

There are some quite good information boards at the Horden Grassland Nature Reserves that give a flavour of what the area was like in its industrial days. The colliery was opened in 1900 and closed in 1987. In 1930, it set a European record for the most coal mined by a single colliery in a day, with 6,758 tonnes mined (a record that stood for over 30 years). 4,342 were employed at the colliery in 1935. The mines ran out under the sea. The small lakes at the reserves are being used as water treatment from the mine. The reed beds filter out iron and other chemicals from the rising mine water. The water is then discharged into the sea.

Warren House Gill

I hacked my way down another track at Warren House Gill to get to the beach. A pillbox at the end of the track looked rather sad having had drinks cans thrown into its windows. I climbed out of the gill on another overgrown track and headed northwards along the cliff. My intention for the day had been to get to the northern side of Fox Holes Dene, about a kilometre further on, but I'd had enough of all the ups and downs and bramble wading. The other factor was that heavy rain was forecast to hit this area around 14:00 and if I turned around now, I'd just be able to get back before it was due to start. I headed southwards, back down into the gill that I'd just climbed up. 

Return

Despite my evident attraction to allotments, in the interests of saving time, I decided to avoid their pleasures on the way back to Crimdon Dene. On the way up the overgrown path at Warren House Gill I  brushed away some nettles and found an ECP sign on a riser of one of the hidden steps. Maybe there was signage about, but everything was so overgrown that I'd just missed them. At Blackhall Colliery, I did stand at the top of the cliffs where the aerial conveyor delivered the spoil down to the sea, but there wasn't much evidence of its existence. The area really has been transformed, and for the better. At Blue House Gill three Crows harassed a Buzzard in an aerial confrontation. The annoyance of the Buzzard was palpable as it made avoidance manoeuvres and struggled to shake them off its tail. There were a few more people mooching about at the Crimdon Holiday Park compared to this morning. Most of the caravans still looked empty though. It did spot with rain over the last couple of miles, but I managed to get back before it got heavier.

I found today's walk quite interesting. I furthered my knowledge on allotments and found out a great deal about the area's industrial past. Ironically, the area now feels like one huge nature reserve. The makers of Get Carter 2 will need to find another dramatic industrial landscape for a sequel of the original film.